Unison Raid
by Rhii
Summary: A desperate attempt to save the Guild Hall from the black dragon leads to a Unison Raid with an interesting side effect for its casters.
1. Chapter 1: Hells Wings

A harrowing scream pierced the air as another building collapsed in a burst of flame and wing beats. From where she sheltered behind what she assumed was once a flower bed, she could see the panicked civilian rush from the wreckage. Her eyebrows furrowed as she remembered those that had perished while trying to evacuate the citizens of magnolia before the fighting began.

The man paused, his eyes widening with horror as he noticed the beast in the sky before him. There was nothing she could do, her warning died in her throat as another attack from the black dragon hit him directly in the chest. The world seemed to slow as the man fell to the sound of wingbeats, and then it was over, the unnamed man lay unmoving on the street beside her.

Closing her eyes briefly she touched the keys at her waist checking for any news of the black dragon's progress across the city. A light pulse from Geminis key told her that the danger was heading away from her towards those sheltered within the confines of the cathedral. For a brief moment she wondered about going back to help Erza, the package in her arms shifted uncomfortably and she held it closer. No, she could not go back now – she had to get this to Fairy Tail for Wendy, there were people counting on her.

She peered around the flower bed trying to ignore the stench of charred flesh. Relief ran through her as a plume of fire burst in to the sky to meet the dragon, at least Natsu was still fighting. She threw herself out from the flower pot and dashed headlong down the street catching her arm on a lump of twisted metal as she went.

She paused as she passed by her old apartment, nothing but a tangle of charred beams and crumbling walls now. The crackling of fire gave way to another more unwelcome sound. The drumbeat of hells wings had returned. A wave of hopelessness hit her as she thought of her guild mates that had agreed to fight Acnologia head on…. Where they following the sound of wing beats as she ran from them? Or was she the last one still moving in this godforsaken city? She shook herself, she had to stop thinking and get to the guild hall.

She ran. She could feel the heat increasing behind her as she moved between the burning buildings. Blood soaked in to her top from the gash on her arm as she held her precious package tightly to her chest, there was no time to think about how she should have been quicker, no time to think about the bodies she ran by. Her lungs burnt as she forced herself forward, there in front of her lay the mostly untouched guild hall.

Only a few more steps and she would be out of the open…

* * *

 **Plot bunny would not leave me alone, a little different to your usual FT fanfiction but I had to try this out!**

 **I have the main plot written out already, probably will be 12/13 chapters in total. I am looking for a Beta reader for this.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2: Unison Raid

Without wasting a second she threw herself through the splintered doors in to the dimly lit guild hall, the stone floor stung her knees upon impact. Taking a moment to catch her breath Lucy noted with relief that she was still mostly in one piece, it was a stroke of luck that she had fallen to floor as she entered the guild because surely her shaking legs could not have supported her another second longer. The low murmur of voices filled her ears, so different from the gush of flames through homes and livelihoods, looking up at the source of the noise she was proud to observe the members of Fairy Tail too young or unable to fight distributed water and clean rags to those that had found refuge in the guild hall. The guild hall had escaped most of the damage much of the rest of the city had seen due to the protection of Freed's runes – it had been decided that the guild hall was to act as a hospital as it was well stocked and easy to defend.

Looking across the room of make-shift beds she noticed the source of her desperate run across Magnolia to Porlyusica, covered in bandages and taking deep shallow shaky breaths was Laxus who had taken an almost direct hit from the black dragon in order to protect Freed who had been setting up a Jutsu Shiki around the guild hall. Lucy stood carefully, making sure her legs could support her weight before moving silently towards her blonde guild mate.

As she approached Laxus she set her precious parcel on his cot and reached out to touch the cloth on his forehead, she pulled her hand away in shock – he was burning up. Gently she removed the cloth from his head and took a fresh damp one from Romeo who was bustling past. Carefully to not catch any of the burns she carefully swabbed at Laxus visible skin in an attempt to cool the big man down.

"Lucy-San!"

The blonde looked up to see a small dragon slayer running through the rows of makeshift beds towards her. Carla could be seen flying just behind her, a medical bag clutched in her paws.

"Have you got them?" Wendy asked breathlessly.

The celestial wizard nodded as gestured to the package resting beside one of Laxus' large hands.

"I'm afraid there is only enough in there for the major injuries. Porlyusica mentioned that if someone could get to her place there would be more…" "I understand."

Wendy lay the package on the nearest table and started to unwrap it gingerly. A new smell filled the guild as a few springs of fresh herbs fell out of the bundle. Romeo, whom Lucy had spotted earlier carrying water rushed over with a pot and a fire lacrima. The young couple's hands touched briefly as the items changed hands, a deep blush flared across both faces as they jumped back if struck by lightning.

"Thank you!" The small dragon slayer squeaked.

Romeo scratched the back of his head nervously, a habit she was sure he had picked up from Natsu. "You're welcome…."

Their eyes lingered on each other a little longer before both turned away from each other and busied themselves with their tasks. A wry smile crossed Lucy's face, both seemed to be unusually enthusiastic with what they were doing, she just hoped they would live long enough to see the blooming relationship come in to fruition.

She watched as Wendy place the herbs in to the boiling water and began to stir the concoction, twice clockwise and one counter clockwise. Wanting to be useful Lucy gently removed the stirrer from Wendy's hands and pushed her towards those still waiting for treatment. The small girl smiled gratefully and rushed off.

As Lucy stirred the pot her thoughts drifted back to the battle planning meeting Mavis had held the night before…

* * *

 _A large table had been set up in one of the empty S-Class offices; Mavis hovered above it looking down at the map of Magnolia absent mindedly moving pieces that represented the guild members as calculated the options, Levy's head rested on Freed's shoulder as they slept –the book they had been studying lay forgotten on the floor, Makarov stood at the window staring out across the city towards the dull red glow in the distance._

 _Lucy watched as the small guild master began his terse pacing once more, his hands clutched tightly behind his back to stop them from shaking. She shook her head as she remembered seeing Laxus pace in the same spot earlier before leaving to help with the evacuation of the citizens of Magnolia, despite their past disagreements there was no denying that the guild master and his grandson both carded deeply for Fairy Tail._

 _She turned back to face the table as a soft creak reached her ears, Mavis had lept down on to the floor in front of her and was staring at her intently. Lucy smiled nervously as the First continued her evaluation._

 _"You performed a unison raid with one of your spirits." It was not a question._

 _"At the Grand Magic Games?"_

 _The spirit nodded and gestured for her to continue._

 _"Urano Metria, Even with my second origin I did not have the control to cast it on my own." She looked towards the window "I didn't want to let my team down, I was desperate, then the idea of using Geminis copy ability came to me."_

 _The spirit nodded to herself and turned back to the table. Curios Lucy watched as Mavis moved the fairy and star pieces together over the guild hall. The rest of the pieces were scattered over the map of Magnolia; a sword and an ice crystal stood guard in front of the Cathedral, duel guns sat in the forest to the east, a metal bar and a flame sat in the middle of it all next to the huge black dragon piece. In the far corner of the map sat a black wooden circle with no adornment, she let herself contemplate who it could belong to before pulling her eyes back to the pieces on the guild hall._

 _"Lumen Histoire, my corporeal body – it could give us the power we need if things take a turn for the worse. I am confident that if we could perform a Unsion Raid the guild hall could be protected long enough for the wounded to escape…"  
The two girls looked at each other for a long time._

 _"What would it cost?" Lucy whispered._

 _Mavis did not blink. "Our life."_

* * *

Lucy was pulled from her thoughts by a soft touch on her arm. Freed now sat next to Laxus on the cot, carefully pulling the sheets back to reveal the extent of the burning. Wordlessly she removed the fire lacrima from the mixture and sat in a comfortable silence beside Freed, content to wait for the mixture to cool down before calling Wendy to administer the potion.

"Thank you." He murmured after a while.

"How is it going?" She asked tentatively.

Freed smiled softly. "They are all still fighting…"

She let out a breath she did not know she had been holding, it they were all out there fighting then they were all alive at least. She could not hope for them to stay in the safety of the guild hall, not when so many lives were at risk, but she at least prayed that they would all get out of this together.

"Drumbeats!" Someone murmured.

"Bar the doors! Get everyone out of sight!" Mavis yelled across the hall.

She left Laxus in Freed's care and ran across the panicking hall towards the doors, the wingbeats seemed to resonate around the room, each beat bring with it another wave of panic. As she approached the doors to close them fully a missile smashed in to one of the sturdy wooden doors splintering it in to hundreds of pieces. As she got closer she heard the missile groan, not a missile she realised – Natsu.

A deafening roar shook the guild hall. Silence no wing beats, no fire, Natsu lay unmoving. It could only mean one thing, Acnologia was bored of playing with his food and was about to finish this. She could feel her legs shaking, she had never felt so helpless. On Tenrou even when all had looked lost there had been no fear, just defiance. Now with both Natsu and Laxus lying prone and the others out in the burning city suffering she could not feel strong, she could not summon up the energy to tell herself it would be alright.

"Luce…." She heard Natsu murmur "Get him!"

She felt a little bit of determination return. She locked eyes with Mavis, it was time to take the risk. For their guild, their family they would fight one last time. She felt her power swell and combine with Lumen Histoire as their hands joined. She was dimly aware that the chant for Urano Metria was tumbling from her mouth as more magic ran in to her body.

"Unison Raid!" She chanted with Mavis

The immense power of Mavis' corporeal body rushing through her, tearing and burning at her as it went. She screamed as she felt herself loosing consciousness. There was nothing but an endless flow of white hot power burning through her body and then blackness. As the flow of magic ebbed she allowed herself to succumb to temptation, somehow she had already got on to the floor somehow – it wasn't that uncomfortable she mused.

She smiled, perhaps when she woke up there would be no more fire…

* * *

 **AN: I hope you are enjoying the Story so far. I apologize for any mistakes - I am still Beta-less.  
**

 **If anyone is quite artistic I would love to see a picture of Mavis & Lucy performing a Unison Raid together.**


	3. Chapter 3: Aftermath

She dreamt of a vast blue sky that swept out across an even bluer ocean, of sea birds dancing in the sky above a great tree, the golden canopy seemingly reaching out to protect all but the far reaches of the island from the fierce midday sun. In the distance she could hear children playing, people going about their everyday business, a busy market fuelled by the success of the local guild. A large book lay across her stomach as she took in the sights and smells of the island, _perhaps…_ she mused, _now would not be a bad time for a nap…._

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the world went dark. The sun was gone – replaced by a huge moon, the warmth from the day lingered, all around her crickets chirped to the night sky. A scream shattered the still night, she ran towards the village…. And all around her the world burned...

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open to be met with darkness, all around her was still. The soft pallet and herbal smell told her she was in the infirmary of the guild hall, soft breathing could be heard around the room, no doubt others who had been injured in the fighting. She brought a hand up to her throat, it felt like it had been rubbed raw by something, raising her head now she had adjusted to the dim light level a little she found a glass of water beside her. She sighed with contentment as the cool liquid slipped down her throat.

She covered her eyes as light washed in to the room from the corridor, a large hulking figure stood in the door, bright red eyes surveyed the darkness. Heavy boots crossed the room towards her, stopping just short at the person two beds down. Lucy struggled to raise herself a little more to peer at the unexpected visitor and their reason for sulking around Fairy Tail so late. She grinned to herself as a head of blue hair revealed the answer she had been hoping for, Levy had been injured early on in the fighting, rubble had fallen on her leg causing a break and some nasty gashes.

"Gihi…" Gajeels trademark laugh cut through the room and she realised a little too late she had been caught staring. She raised both hands shakily in a gesture of peace to the hulking iron dragon slayer.

"Bunny Girl, didn't know you were awake!" His voice so deep she likened it to a growl in her head.

She shrugged. "How is she?" Her voice waved as she spoke.

"Fine. She was reading most of the past few days…"

"Few days! Hong long have I been asleep!"

"Three days." A new voice supplied "What was my stipulation of you looking in on the brats? You were supposed to check on all of them and let me know if any of them needed attention! Useless human! Now get out I need to check the patient!"

Lucy grinned at the old healers rant. The grin on her face quickly died as Porlyusica's sharp gaze turned to herself, something inside her was overjoyed to see the old woman as cutting as ever. She shook her head to herself as the healer approached her bed.

"Using that much magic, where you trying to kill yourself? I have enough burns to deal with from that dragon without having to heal where your own spell has started to eat at you. You are lucky Wendy was so quick to heal your throat after the power ripped through it, if not you would not be here right now, as it is you will have difficulty talking for quite a time I would imagine. That coupled with the severe deficiency in magic …" The healer sighed heavily. "Did you know?"

Lucy's head quickly supplied her with the full question, had she been aware of how suicidal her actions had been? She nodded once, although she hadn't thought it at the time she had been well aware of the sacrifice her actions may have caused.

"Well congratulations, your actions ripped the dragon to pieces – and a rather large hole in the guild hall roof may I add…" Lucy flinched. "You managed to save your guild mates at least, and none of the rubble fell back inside the building, at least we have that to be grateful for."

Pride at her plan swelled inside her, she blinked, her plan?

"There have been very few casualties because of your quick thinking…" Lucy gagged as her mind took her back to the man she had seen incinerated by dragon fire, the stench of burning flesh and burning wind on her face so clear in her mind that she almost believe she was back there. In a desperate attempt to think of anything else her mind fast forwarded to the end of the battle. Her eyes searched the old healers face as she gathered the will to ask.

"Natsu?"

The healer groaned and rolled her eyes exasperatedly, Lucy just stared – shocked at such a human expression. Her mind supplier her with the fact that the woman had not always been so grumpy. Glossing over the random fact that had entered her mind she waited for a fuller response.

"God help those of us who have to deal with the stupidity of dragon slayers. He is running a fever, trying to burn the room down with his roar too. I have the ice mage on damage control."

A vision of a skeletal dragon ripping apart Magnolia swam to the forefront of her mind, it felt like such a strong memory although she was sure she would have remembered an instance like that before now. Perhaps she had not fully recovered from the stress of hosting Lumen Histoire in her own body, a spike of amusement followed that thought. She frowned, it appeared that her emotions were a little all over the place recently.

 _Not your emotions_ , her mind supplied, _Ours!_

Her thoughts sounded a lot like Mavis she mused, again the wave of amusement washed over her. Lucy's eyes widened in horror, she had absorbed Lumen Historie in order to raise the attack, what if she had collapsed before she had disengaged from Mavis.

"Mavis?" She whispered, her hypothesis was proved correct as a wave of happiness floated from the back of her mind.

"What was that child?" Porlyusica snapped. "Speak up!"

"I think we are still linked, Mavis and myself…"

The healer froze "That's impossible!"

An image of Bixlow floated to the forefront of her thoughts, sending thanks back to what she assumed was the spirit of the first guild master she cleared her throat.

"Perhaps we should ask Bixlow?"

The old healer sighed and stuck her head out of the door. "You! Cat! Stop moping and go fetch me the seith mage!"

"Aye!" Came the distant reply.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Perhaps some of you might get the jist of where this is going perhaps... I've tried not to give too much away in the story description so that I don't inadvertently ruin the plot for people!**

 **I'd love to hear where you think this is going!**


	4. Chapter 4: Memories

**Chapter 4: Memories**

She dreamt of soft grass beneath her bare feet, tall proud trees stood around her their branches giving way to clear blue skies above. A dark haired man in a toga watched her cautiously from the edge of the treeline, turning slowly she took in the other people in the clearing. Three travel worn men sat cross legged behind her, their breathing soft and deep as if they were meditating, they all looked so determined. Curious she turned to find another in the clearing, a girl with dark brown hair in two pigtails, the girl smiled warmly at her before disappearing in a shower of light.

* * *

Lucy sighed as she rounded yet another corner to a street of rubble and burnt beams, she had been picking through the ruins of Magnolia all morning in an attempt to get to Strawberry Street and her own apartment. She knew what would await her there, charred ruins of a comfy flat her belongings completely gone, her mother's letters, the window she always left open for Natsu, the chair Grey always sat in, Ezra's favourite books…

 _But the memories remain…._

Lucy smiled, with Bixlow's help she had become better at differentiating Mavis' voice from her own thoughts. The stream of thoughts, memories and emotions had been a little unsettling at first but now it was comforting in some way to have the companionship. While she had been recovering there had been very few visitors due to the rebuilding effort, it had been interesting to converse with Mavis whose love of reading somehow managed to surpass her own. They had spent hours discussing story lines and the characters from Lucy's manuscript - it turns out it had not even been safe from nosey spirits in her office.

A stray though from Mavis caught her attention as she entered one of the small squares that littered Magnolia, this one had always been one of Lucy's favourite with its small citrus lined fountain.

 _This is where Yuri proposed._

"Yuri?"

 _Dreyar, Makarovs farther_

Lucy smiled. "He must have been one of the rare romantic Dreyar men!"

She felt amusement from Mavis run through her. _Did you know he once promised to take me to see fairy's?_

"From the guild question ' _Do Fairy's have tails?_ ' I assume life got in the way?"

 _I like to think he did, four generations of them_.

Lucy grinned at that thought, a bakery caught her eye as she crossed the square. The white and red sign showing a strawberry cheese cake still mostly in tact despite only hanging from one corner, the glazed windows were smashed, the walls blacked but inside she could see the small tables she had sat at so often.

"Erza swears that this bakery serves the best cake in Fiore"

 _That is a bold claim!_

"That's Erza, would you argue with her over cake?" Lucy laughed as the thoughts from her companion froze. "Did you know Natsu once tried to help make her cake 'taste better' by covering it in chilli powder?"

She grinned as she felt Mavis' horror and disbelief. _How is he still alive?_

"Do you see that street down towards Cardia Cathedral?" Lucy pointed at the heavily damaged main street, its usually bustling boutiques abandoned by all but the crows. "She hit him half the way to the cathedral with one of the bakery's chairs."

 _It seems that street has survived a lot at the hands of our guild_ , Mavis mused, _Blue Skull, Phantom Lord, Tartaros…._

"Not to mention Fantasia." Lucy muttered wryly.

She felt Mavis bristle at the mention of the festival. _Surely you have forgiven him, Laxus…_

Lucy laughed and sent images of the latest Fantasia parade only a month prior. It had been such a successful parade; vibrant floats, amazing feats of magical entertainment… and celebration Fairy Tail style. Mages challenging the citizens on Magnolia to drinking competitions. Natsu challenging every visiting mage to a fight. Gildart's insistence of following Cana everywhere and ruining several walls in the process. Juvia attempting to drown anyone that looked at 'her Grey-sama!' And then Sabretooth had arrived to join the celebrations…

Mavis pushed an image of one of the floats to the front of Lucy's mind. A castle made of light surrounded by trees with flowers that glittered like gemstones towered above the two people in the middle of the float. Two blondes danced together in the middle of the stage, a knight and a princess lost in their own world as Lyra's music accompanied their waltz. Zodiac spirits threw flowers from the windows of the castle to the crowd gathered to watch the parade. As the float pulled out of the busy street back towards the guild and headed towards the guild the Knight stopped the dance and gently pressed his lips against the princesses before grinning defiantly at the fuming Lion spirit.

 _You make quite the couple you know_. Lucy blushed. _So when is your next date?_

"There won't be one…"

 _Why?_

"He is leaving on a 10 year mission, I think he feels guilty for not being able to protect us better."

Lucy remembered when he had visited her in the guild infirmary to inform her of his decision, he had been so solemn. In order to protect his privacy she had pushed Mavis to the back of her conscious in a desperate attempt to be just herself for him. She had known what was coming from the moment she had seen him sacrifice himself for Freed. She had not told him of her own part to play in the battle, he did not need another burden. She had not had the heart to try to stop him when he had look at her with those serious blue eyes, besides there was no changing a Dragon Slayers mind once it was made up. With one final gentle kiss she had let him go.

 _What about the guild?_

"Apparently he told Makarov he wasn't allowed to die until he returned." She smiled sadly.

Sadness rippled across their connection. _Sometimes I wonder if things would have been better if I had never been cursed...Would the Laxus' have had a better childhood…_

"Would you do it again?"

 _Every time_. Came the fierce reply.

"Then don't wonder what might have been." Lucy Sighed "It's all gone now though"

 _We will rebuild this city. As for the memories I am sure the next generation will grow up with the stories; they will all know how Cana found her father, how Lisanna came back from the dead and how Natsu found you._

Lucy nodded and turned away from the main thoroughfare and let her feet carry her down a once familiar street. Across the bridge, covered in soot and rubble sat the yellow building she used to call home. From where she stood now she could see the sunlight filtering in to her apartment from the absentee roof and two missing walls. Her heart heavy she crossed the bridge and entered the building through the severely damaged front door, she gingerly climbed the stairs carefully to stand only where the boards looked like they could take her weight.

Mavis was oddly silent as Lucy stepped over the white tiled rubble that was once her kitchen wall. There was not much of the apartment she remembered left, pink curtains moved gently in the breeze, a floral silver teaspoon lay beside a shattered tea cup, a flattened oak structure covered the bodies of leather bound books. One of these Lucy picked up gently her finger caressing its much worn spine, she fought back the tears as her senses took in the heavy scent of burnt wood and smoke that lingered on her much beloved belongings. She had never had time for many things in her apartment between jobs but what she had was well used and well loved, every single piece had a story behind it.

* * *

In a flat in Magnolia a blonde mage knelt on the floor gripping herself tightly, tears ran down her face unreservedly. The mage did not notice a scarlet haired woman gently lifted her and started to carry her towards the guild hall. She did not care if anyone saw her. It would not be until later after the red head had held her through the night that she would recover from the shock of seeing her life dissolve in to rubble once more.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed this most recent chapter! Please let me know what you thought.**


	5. Chapter 5: Illusion

She dreamt of an ancient temple long lost to the world covered by the ocean. Small brightly coloured fish swam amongst the marble columns and statuettes. Darkened corridors twisted away from the main thoroughfare that was still lit by a forgotten magic. In a large circular room a giant fish circled peculiar headed statues that faced away from the centre of the room. The temple shook with the force of an explosion and she swam away towards the surface a crown clutched in her hands.

* * *

Lucy awoke to a cold metal breastplate pressing against her face. She groaned as she pealed herself away from the armour that appeared to be attempting to smoother her as she slept. She had no problem with the fact Erza had been sneaking in to her bed since she had been back to her damaged apartment, the biggest problem was that Erza rarely remembered to requip in to something a little less... metallic. Lucy smiled as Erza friend pulled the covers tighter around her armour clad body murmuring about cheesecake in her sleep.

Careful not to wake her companion Lucy swung herself out of her bed in the makeshift female dormitory that had sprung up in the guilds basement and went about finding some halfway decent clothing from the communal pile of garments. All of it had been scavenged from the abandoned homes near the guild or donated by previous clients. Finding a few items she deemed passable she dressed quickly and headed upstairs in to the quiet guild hall.

It was still early, although the main hall itself was empty Mira could be heard moving around in the kitchen behind the bar. Deciding to take advantage of the large open space while she had it to herself she mentally roused Mavis from the back of her consciousness. Lucy sent a few quick images of what she planned to accomplish, illusions that would be simple enough to create and would not draw too much attention if someone was to wander in to the guild hall. Taking up a meditation position Lucy waited for instructions on how to begin.

 _Close your eyes and imagine what you want to see._ Mavis began. _How does it look, smell, feel, how does it move, does it have a personality? Keep everything you know about this thing in the forefront of your mind. Now imagine in within the guild hall. Push your magic out past the limits of your body and…_

"Pu-poi!"

Lucy's eyes opened to find her small dog spirit circling her illusion, a half-sized Plue sat on the table swinging its legs happily and the real spirit inspected it. With a happy exclamation the spirit sat beside its counterpart and pulled out a pair of lollipops, immediately offering one to his doppelgänger.

 _Not bad for a first attempt._ Mavis mused. _At least your subject approves._

Lucy grinned and dismissed the illusion, there would be more time to play with the ability later when there was less chance of someone discovering her. For now it was clear that, at least where magical abilities were concerned, there was more to this joining of souls than the ability to communicate with each other.

* * *

The small solid script mage leant across the table and gave Lucy a long penetrating look over the top of her new gale-force reading glasses, the book Levy had been studying lay between them the illustration of dragon curled around a cathedral faced upwards. Lucy shifted uncomfortably in her seat wondering what had possessed her to blurt out something that seemed such an unusual question. She blamed the book in front of her for triggering one of Mavis' memories, she had been so surprised to see another dragon strolling down the streets of magnolia that she had accidentally blurted out the question.

She met her friends gaze sheepishly as Levy cleared her throat. "Just to make sure I understand, you want to know what would happen to someone who absorbed a spirit?"

Lucy nodded not trusting herself to blurt out the truth of her recent… ailment.

"From what I've read spirits are different to lost souls, they are much happier to leave their host to their own devices and reach their goal for remaining with the agreement from their chosen host. There are a number of ways for this to occur such as having a strong shared goal or desire, or being cursed. Is this for a job?"

"No, I just read it in a Novel and was curious!"

Levy grinned. "Sounds like one I've not read yet then. I'll borrow it when you are done?"

Lucy was saved from answering when a hand dragged her out of her seat with a gruff explanation to the small blue haired wizard that sounded suspiciously like 'new cosplay idea'. She tried to resist the much larger person carrying upstairs towards the S-class offices but it was no use, she straightened up and used the opportunity to look over her captors shoulder where his guard of honour when happily hovering along behind him. She grinned as the smaller totem 'accidentally' knocked in to Evergreen as it made its way up the stairs.

She frowned as she was deposited on the floor in front of a very familiar leather chair, a quick glance around the office, from the haphazardly stacked bookshelf to the heavy oak desk to the Weekly Sorcer clipings of the grand magic games team, this was definitely Laxus' office. She peeked at the disgruntled Seith Mage, this was going to be interesting.

"Just curious?" He growled.

Lucy stiffened, Bixlow was one of the few guild members beside Porlyusica and Makarov that knew the truth about what had happened during the battle of Magnolia. "I did honestly read about it in a book…"

He raised himself to his full height. "And I'm sure that is the reason why and not your current co-habitation issue?"

"Why does the reason matter?" She growled.

Bixlow seemed to bristle. "Don't run away from your problems!"

Lucy paled "I'm not running away, I'm trying to fix everything…."

"By doing what! By hiding the truth? By pretending Acnologia just dropped dead of his own accord? By pretending everything is normal?" He growled.

Lucy kept his gaze as she release her magic allowing a near perfect replica of Mavis to settle herself on the desk between them, the illusion smiled brightly up at Bixlow as she swung her legs back and forth in the usual cheery manner of the First. Amusement at the Illusion rolled of the real Mavis as she surveyed her image.

I always thought I was a little taller…. Came the bemused thought.

Lucy watched Bixlow as he circled the illusion, a look something akin to wonder showed on his face as he examined every inch of the humming girl. The larger totems circled the desk slowly drawing closer and closer to the target of their masters curiosity, as if possessed his hand crept towards the soft porcelain skin of the First, the illusion glowed a little brighter as his fingers brushed a strand of golden hair. She reluctantly let the illusion fall as his hand slipped through the illusion.

"Ideally I would ask Gemini to emulate the First until I come to a solution in regards to separating ourselves but if I was to be attacked and needed to call Gemini that would lead to some uncomfortable questions. As long as she is just seen to be watching the guild no one will worry, then I can restore her in peace and no one will be any the wiser."

"But why not get help?"

Lucy sighed. "Could you imagine the reactions? The over protectiveness? The pity? The betrayal as they realise what I've done, as they realise just how much of a loss Mavis is… All I want is to correct my mistake and finish this quietly."

Bixlow shook his head. "I didn't judge you!"

She smiled wryly. "That's because you already know the truth about spirits and souls."

He grinned. "In that case count me as ally number one!" He threw his arm out triumphantly holding up a single finger.

"Idiot!" She snorted.

Bixlow laughed, his tounge lolling out in his trademark grin. "Say hello to Team Cosplayer!"

Lucy sighed dramatically.

"Mission one, clean up the city!"

* * *

 **AN: I hope you like this Chapter! So Lucy is about to help in the rebuilding efforts for Magnolia, what will she find I wonder?  
**

 **I am considering writing a bit of a spin off/prequel to look in to the doomed romance of the 'princess and the knight' from the fantasia float - once I have finished this project of course.**


	6. Chapter 6: Unexpected Guest

She dreamt of the stars hanging above her head like fairy lights in the dark canopy of the sky. The light reflected off the glass surface of the sea making it seem like if she dipped her foot in the water she would be able to wade out in to the sea of stars, under her heat the soft sand shifted as she moved towards the shore mesmerized by the view. The darkness reminded her of a young man with jet black hair who moved with exaggerated grace within his toga of night.

* * *

She wanted to scream, this was the fourth time since she had joint the building effort just after breakfast that her pesky lion had summoned himself just to remove the container of supplies for the refuge from her grasp and insist that she should rest. The containers were not heavy, just blankets and dried food to help those whose homes had been destroyed. With a self-satisfied grin her box and lion disappeared in a shower of golden sparkles.

Sighing heavily she passed Taurus, who was happily transporting 10 foot timbres that would go towards rebuilding the town hall, and headed back towards the guild hall in order to see if there was anything she could do without being redirected or having the task taken off her by an overly protective spirit. She knew they meant well and wanted to help the people of Magnolia by she had called out specific spirits for the tasks that needed completing, Virgo for digging the foundations of the new city, Taurus for manual labour and Aries for making blankets and spare clothing.

Her spirits she could understand, but recently Bixlow had also been watching her every move, his calls for 'Team Cosplayer' to lead the clean up efforts were driving her mad. She appreciated the sentiment, but did he really need to give his smallest totem bunny ears?

 _It's cute_ , Mavis offered. _I bet it's because you know who asked him to look after you! You do make an adorable couple…. Maybe you should go after him and…_

"You are as bad as Mira!" She sighed.

"Who is?"

She jumped a mile at the small voice in here ear, turning she found Bixlow and his babies behind her. She grinned and tapped her hear.

"I seem to have my own personal matchmaker on the go up here."

 _You wanted to have a boyfriend if I remembered correctly._  
The Seith mage grinned widely. "Well you could do with a man Cosplayer. Maybe a certain blonde haired someone could look after you."

"Not you as well!"

He shrugged. "What can I say, you looked hot together!"

"Don't you have someone else to bother?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Nope!"

* * *

She cradled a bouquet of chrysanthemums in her arms as she slowly mounted the cathedral steps, having three golden keys out at once still took a lot out of her, even though the weariness and other symptoms from her magic deprivation had passed in the last week.

Bixlow had taken to looking out for her especially since Laxus had left, it had taken a while to disengage herself from his attempts launch 'Team Cos-player' and find some time to herself so she could pay her respects those who had lost their lives to the black dragon. Not wanting to trouble him with her grief she had sent him with Erza to look over the Training Arena in the guild, while she visited the monument alone.

 _Well not entirely alone_. She thought wryly, she could feel Mavis' own grief as they rounded the corner of the Cathedral and started down the flower lined avenue that ran to the towering black marble statue of a dragon with its wings spread menacingly as it towered above a small silver plaque detailing names and ages of those who had not escaped the crossfire between the Dragon King and Fairy Tail.

Her fingers traced across the list names, the in the years were she had lived, loved and lost in the city had brought with it many familiar faces. Friends inside and outside of the guild. A few of the number she had not known their names until the wake, she knew now that 'boat man' was Jeff, the lady who always but extra frosting on Erza's cheesecake was Marie and the man who had died standing next to her was Damian. Along with the new names were a few she had known for years… She sighed heavily as her fingers paused at a much rougher engraving on the plaque beside her old employers name someone had inscribed the word "cool!", her mind wandered back to the year she spent at the Weekly Sorcer working as Jason's right hand woman. Despite the loneliness of being away from her family the overly jubilant reporter had kept her spirits high in that year of waiting. She had specially picked the bright pink blossom that stood out amongst the sober white flowers with him in mind.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a movement to her right, she ran her eyes over the statue once more before laying the flowers at the foot of the memorial. If there had been a threat Mavis would have warned her, although the First had been unusually quiet all morning. She sent a questioning thought back to which she received what she assumed to be a mental shrug.

Turning she took in the man beside her. He stood silently, head bowed in respect to the memorial, his dark hair covering his face and his pale hands folded neatly in front of him. He seemed to be dressed in a similar style to Natsu but in darker shades. He seemed familiar though she could not remember where she might have seen him before, as he raised his head she remembered a man in the toga from Mavis' memories.

 _Zeref_ … the single word floated in to her mind and froze her body.

The man's dark eyes roamed her features as if searching for something, his eyes flickered down to her left hand and her Fairy Tail insignia, seemingly satisfied he drew himself taller and offered his own hand to her.

"I don't think we have had the pleasure, I am Zeref Dragneel. I am looking for my brother, perhaps you may be of assistance, I believe he is in your guild."

Lucy swallowed nervously and shook his hand, hiding behind her years of training at the Heartfillia mansion. She had heard about Zeref's relationship with Natsu from the salmon haired dragon slayer only months before, she also knew of the dark wizard's connection to her own family, although this little tidbit of information she had kept to herself.

"Lucy Heartfillia of Fairy Tail." She murmured.

At the mention of her last name his dark eyes raked over her form once more. "Of course, you are the spitting image of your ancestor Anna and I see that looks aren't the only thing that run in the family." He gestured towards her keys. "I…"

He paused, following his gaze she hastily attempted to cover Aquarius' mark. Gentle hands carefully pulled her arms away from her chest, understanding shone in his eyes. A shiver ran down her spine as he smiled softly at her.

"I am sorry for your loss." He murmured.

She shifted uncomfortably, no one else knew of her sacrifice ... None except Mavis who had revealed early on in their bizarre cohabitation that she could see Lucy's dreams, or in the case nightmares. The warmth from his hands on her arms and his smile made her believe for a minute that this man in front of her was not an insanely powerful dark wizard.

 _No darker than myself._ Mavis commented. _Both of us cursed, misunderstood..._

Uncomfortable Lucy drew away from his touch, inside her she could feel the Firsts sadness at the distance created, suppressing Mavis' emotions she took stock of her situation. She could just walk away at any time but she owed it to Natsu to give him one chance of being reunited with at least part of his family.

"I can take you to see Natsu," she offered.

The man in front of her looked surprised. "Can you not bring him here to meet me?"

"He was injured in the battle, his energy seems to have hindered rather than helped his recovery. If you want to see him is will be at the guild."

A thoughtful look on his face the dark wizard simply nodded and gestured for her to lead the way.

* * *

 **AN: So Zeref makes an entrance, this is were it will start to get interesting!**

 **I have started on the next chapter and have all of chapter 8 written so I apologize for the erratic posting but you will probably get two additional chapters pretty quickly and then nothing for a week or two.**

 **Let me know what you think of the story so far, how do you see this ending?**


	7. Chapter 7: END

"Lucy?"

"Mhmmmm?" She replies looking back at her strange companion

"Are you sure this is alright? You know taking me to the guild?"

Lucy shrugs. "Rather this than facing our healers wrath at letting Natsu out of the guild. We have more than our fair share of ex-convicts, previously dark wizards and general trouble makers, what is one more?"

She watched as his face changed from worry to contemplation to nervousness, being this close to such a feared person made her realize that Mavis was right he was human after all, just misunderstood. All of the things that might make people feel intimidated around him she recognized from her days in training under her mothers watchful eye, from the way he appeared to glide down the path to the way his eyes took in every little detail around him, all traits of a strict upbringing.

"If you insist."

She grinned as the silence spread between them. _If your assumptions are correct he will try to bridge the silence_ , Mavis offered. Lucy could feel the anticipation rolling off the tactician, there was nothing either of them liked more that learning something new. Maybe with this discovery she could learn more about this mans childhood, a eye witness perspective of a long dead civilization... she made a note of the premise, perhaps she could work it in to her story somehow.

"I'm sorry but where did you get your hair ornaments." The dark mage blurted out.

"Pardon?" She tried to process the unexpected question.

"Well, I just thought they looked familiar, I was trying to work out where I had seen them before. Perhaps your mother..." He started awkwardly.

Lucy froze, alarm bells were going off in her head. She had chosen the hair ornaments that Mavis favored recently in order to let the tactician have some control over their appearance - she had not thought anyone would notice. Everyone in the guild had just ignored the change or called the accessories cute, desperately she tried to come up with an acceptable answer and a way to change the subject without raising suspicion.

"These? I picked them up recently." _Well its not a lie_ , Mavis commented.

"Oh."

"I've been researching the formation of Fairy Tail recently..."

 _You mean Levy has._

"And I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the founding members?"

 _Liar!_

Zeref, unaware of the extra person privy to their conversation, looked thoughtful. "Which one would you like to know more about? Mavis?"

She cursed inwardly, she had wanted to move their conversation out of dangerous territory not give him the answer.

"I think I know enough about Mavis..." She searched her memory desperately for a name of one of the other founders. "What about Yuri Dreyar?"

 _Mr Dreyar eh? Interested in your beaus family history?_ Mavis teased

"Yuri!" He seemed surprised.

"I'm close to his grandson and his son is our guild master." She explained.

 _Very close to his grandson._

"Ah! Thank would explain your curiosity." He seemed to recover himself. "Well to begin with the three male founders were treasure hunters, Yuri was the leader. A competent treasure hunter if not a little hardheaded, and little most young men he had a habit for trying to be flashy and show off. He made many mistakes and in an attempt to stay true to his roots he turned on his friends, after the battle with Blue Skull he matured and helped form the guild you know today."

 _Laxus the very is the embodiment of Yuri._ Mavis added.

"It seems like those traits run in the family." Lucy mused.

"The key players in the story will always remain the same no matter how often it is told, the Fairy, the Sprigan, the Dragons, the Celestial Princess... Each telling gives the characters different names, different back stories but their essence is the same. For example, from my perspective you are more similar to Anna than you know, one day you too with by the strongest Celestial Mage alive, you will also wield all twelve Zodiac keys..."

"No!" The force of her statement even surprised Lucy herself. "If I had Picies and Libra that would mean Yukino..."

Zeref smiled softly. "There are other ways for her keys to come to you, perhaps even temporarily."

She nodded relieved slightly. "Well we are here. Ready?"

Not waiting for an answer her face split in to a mischievous grin, striding forward confidently she kicked to guild doors open dragging the nervous mage behind her. Pausing dramatically for effect as the entire guild turned to look at the doors she gestured to the mage beside her.

"Look who I found!" She grinned.

There was silence for a moment and then chaos broke out, Lucy wasn't sure who threw the first chair or how Natsu ended up in front of them so quickly demanding a fight but sure enough within seconds of their arrival a full scale brawl had broken out for 'the right' to fight the newcomer. Dodging a flying table she decided to make her way to a nice quiet spot to wait out the carnage, their guest was in Natsu's questionable hands and for now that was enough.

* * *

It was a few hours later that the furniture found its way back in to its original position in the guild hall and various over excitable guild members had calmed down enough to listen to the reason for their guests visit. Although in classic Fairy Tail fashion calmed down wasn't exactly... calm, the guild had gathered around Zeref - who was looking rather uncomfortable at the number of people pushing in on him. Erza had attempted to reinforce a 'safe distance' but not even she could keep inquisitive fairies from their goal. Zeref shifted nervously, as his eyes found her Lucy grinned back from where she sat at the back of the group before nodding towards Natsu. The dark mage seemed to hesitate for a moment before letting his gaze finally fall fully on his brother. A small smile crossed Zeref's face as the salmon haired fire mage looked eagerly up at him.

"What do you want to know?" Zeref murmured.

Natsu looked thoughtfully at him, but the first question came from Erza.

"Why are you here?" She demanded.

"Lucy invited me here."

The fiery red head turned her piercing gaze on Lucy who shrugged in return. "He wanted to see his brother, who am I to deny him?"

"His brother?" Makarov questioned.

Zeref inclined his head. "Allow me to introduce myself properly, I am Zeref Dragneel."

The silence in the guild was deafening, Zeref continued haltingly.

"I was born over 400 years ago, it was a dangerous time where dragons ruled the world there were many orphans - myself included. I lost my parents and younger brother in a dragon attack. Desperate to save the brother I promised my father I would protect I studied the relation of magic to the realms of life and death. My studies in magic lead me far in the creation of life, I perfected this techniques on my demons in an attempt to end my unnatural curse life, I was unsuccessful and so I created my masterpiece, known it as the book of END. The true nature of END was a little different to how my so-called followers would have you believe. I entrusted END to one of my long time friends, Igneel."

Again there was silence, Gray stared at his long time rival. "So END is...?"

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel, my little brother."

"It's true." Natsu murmured.

The ice mage strode through the mass of guild mates to punch his team mate. "You knew, you let me vow I would destroy you to my father's grave knowing exactly what that meant!"

Gray gave his friend one last long look before storming out of the guild.

Lucy caught Juvia's eye, there was no hesitation of the other girls face as she gestured for Lucy to follow the ice mage. The water mage had correctly guessed that Lucy had known the truth for as long as Natsu, only she could explain the reason why Natsu had not told the rest of his team. Grateful to the water mage she nodded as she left the guild after her team mate. Natsu's voice followed her as she slipped through the the main doors. "Join the guild!"

* * *

She found him exactly where she knew he would be, sitting under the giant oak tree in what remained of Magnolia Park. It was were she had found him after their conflict with Leon and Deloria, it was where he had explained Ultears sacrifice and it was where they had clung to each other desperately as if either of them would disappear if they were left alone for even a moment on the night after the confrontation with Tartaros. They had bonded in a way neither of them could with the rest of their team, at heart they had adopted each other as siblings. Another reason why Juvia had let her go alone.

"Hey." She sat down heavily next to him as he watched the dying light reflect across the still pond.

"Did you know?" He sighed.

She lent back against the tree and looked up at the blood red sun. "It wasn't my place to say anything." She sighed. "Sometimes I wish he hadn't told me and had chosen to tell you."

Gray raised his face to search her face with his bloodshot eyes. "Why?"

"Because the only way to destroy Zeref permanently is to destroy END. Natsu ran off being his oblivious self while I stood night after night at the command table with some of the strongest mages in Earthland as they theorized how to terminate Zeref and Acnologia, night after night I stood with Mavis as our guilds representative knowing that should I choose to I could easily end this war with only a single sacrifice to ourselves. Was I right to protect my best friend? Should I have let Happy tell everyone? Should all those unknown soldiers die just so I would be able to keep my best friend?" Lucy looked deep in to her pseudo brothers eyes. "Happy told me that even knowing he would die Natsu tried to land the final strike on Zeref during our fight against the Alvarez Empire. I think he let you make that vow with him as witness so you could make the choice when the time came."

 _And I never suspected a thing_. Mavis sighed.

Gray punched the trunk of the tree. "Stupid flame brain, always making everyone else take responsibility for his problems."

"I like to think he gave us the choice to save him, not the choice to kill him."

The ice mage looked at her questioningly.

"A tactician like Mavis would have been able to put her feelings aside and sacrifice what was necessary..."

 _You made the same sacrifice_.

"But we aren't that strong. We would do anything else it required of us to destroy the opposition and therefore saving him."

Gray sighed heavily. "What now?"

Lucy smiled sadly. "The war is over, Acnologia is dead and Zeref is peaceful once more. Just beat him in to the ground and call it even."

"I'll do that." He grinned cheesily.

They sat in silence for a moment both locked in their stood suddenly and offered her his hand. "Ready to forget all of this and party Fairy Tail Style?"

* * *

By the time they returned to the guild the party was in full swing, the guild have gravitated around the Dragneel brothers who were currently at the mercy of Cana and Mira. Cana had camped herself between the brothers with a couple of barrels of booze trying to get herself a good drinking competition going, she had Natsu hook line and sinker probably by wording it as a challenge, the elder Dragneel brother however did not look too keen. Mira was taking advantage to his avoidance of the card mage by trying to set him up with every available female within the guild, for once Lucy was glad that her name seemed to have been omitted from the list.

Gray pulled her over to the brothers and immediately started a brawl with Natsu. Lucy grinned as the boys apologize in the way that only they could understand each other, her face fell however when she heard Mira call her name. Smiling sweetly she turned to see the twin smirks on the worst tow matchmakers in the guild... minus Mavis.

 _Hey! I'm not that bad._

"Who do you think Zeref would be cute with?" Cana asked.

"I thought he was Mavis's" She returned.

 _That would be good revenge... if they could find me._

Mira squealed happily. "Two cursed lovers separated by their love for all eternity. So romantic."

"This is why I don't have a man!" Cana declared earning herself Miras full attention.

Lucy stuck her tongue out victoriously as Bixlow approached her. "Hey Toga! Thought about joining Team Cosplayer?"

"Toga? Team Cosplayer?" Zeref questioned.

"Bixlow has a habit for nicknames." She explained.

"I just tell the truth Cosplayer!"

"Says the guy who wears purple spandex."

Bixlow crossed his arms and tried to pout as Evergreen who had come to join them started laughing. The fairy mage wobbled over to Zeref and offered her hand. "Evergreen, and the MANLY lump of muscle in the corner of the room is my partner Elfman." She paused for a moment before pointing at Freed who was unconscious at the bar. "My team mates, Freed and you've already met Bixlow." Again Evergreen paused, to look at Lucy this time. "The other member of our team is on a ten year mission but I'm sure Lucy can tell you all about Laxus." She winked as she retreated with her team mate in tow.

"So thats why you asked about Yuri?" Zeref grinned.

 _Now who's bad?_ Mavis teased

She sighed. "We went on two dates, he needed to leave for his own reasons, I let him go. That's it, there will be no big romantic reunion or flashy acts or love. When he returns in ten years I could be married, he might return with children, either of us could die... But if it keeps me out of the matchmaking..." She shrugged. "It will give you more time with our two lovely resident matchmakers, both single at the moment if they forgot to mention that."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

 **AN: I hope no one seems too OOC, there are so many good characters in Fairy Tail that I am having trouble incorporating them all in to the story. If I have missed your favorite character from the guild let me know and I will give them a cameo appearance (as long as it does not affect the plot I have already got drafted out)!  
**

 **Also this is taking on a bit of a life of its own. I was aiming for a 12 chapter story but the guild and all its antics keeps presenting situations I just have to include eg 'Team Cosplayer'.**


	8. Chapter 8: Law

She dreamt that she was cold and starving surrounded by inky trees looming above her in the mist. Shadowy ghosts of those she had loved and lost danced around her pointing their figures at her in disgust, blaming her for their fate. As she shivered she drew her legs closer to her body and tried to keep the cold out of her bones, her head buried itself in between her knees in a desperate attempt to block out the ghosts accusing cries.

Suddenly warm arms encircled her and drew her away from the ghosts, as he smiled at her she recognized his porcelain face and dark eyes. She brushed his black hair away from his face as she searched for release from her curse. As if in answer his lips brushed against hers briefly before a warm pleasant darkness embraced her.

* * *

It was warm, too warm Lucy reflected to be hiking through the woods. She had been on the trail towards the Falls for a couple of hours now and had not seen another living soul apart from the occasional squirrel or butterfly. Taking a short break she took her water out of her pack and checked the map she had borrowed from Erza, they should be close now. Her only hope was that Mavis would enjoy the surprise she had for them.

Lucy had woken to find Mavis in a melancholy mood, in an attempt to cheer her friend up she had suggested taking a break from the ruined city streets and taking a walk in the forest that ran along the edge of Magnolia, she wanted to suggest going to the library but seeing the blacked piles of books would probably do nothing to cheer the illusion mage up. This she was high above magnolia traipsing through the woods.

She felt Mavis' spirits lift a little with excitement as the sound of rushing water reached them, Lucy's pace quickened as if the excitement was contagious. She skidded to a halt beside a deep clear pool fed by the spectacular waterfall, caught in Mavis excitement she deposited the pack and her hiking clothes and plunged in to the cool crystal clear water. As she came up for air she felt yet another pull from the spirit as she was begged to explore the pool and area around the waterfall, laughing she indulged the curious girl.

* * *

An hour or so later Lucy sat down side the pool in the sun, she would need to dry off before heading back down the mountain. Grinning the stretched and lay on her back to watch the clouds sail past above them.

 _Thank you._

Lucy simply smiled in response.

 _I am sorry I worried you._

"Can I help in anyway?" She asked.

Lucy felt the spirit ponder her response.

 _The dream we had_ … Mavis began haltingly. _What you saw was my death. A love that could never be a contradiction to my curse… our curse… With his return I remember now how I felt then, how in a moment he was the only one who knew how I felt._

"He understood you."

 _I was glad it was me that the curse took._

"You luuuurved him."

She felt the spirit roll her eyes.

 _Lucy! You say I'm bad._

"You mentioned before that the curse was from an incomplete incantation?"

 _Law, I later refined it in to the spell Makarov and Laxus know today._

"Could you teach me?" Lucy asked curiously.

She waited for the first Masters response, with such a powerful spell in her arsenal perhaps she could help defend the Guild better next time. Perhaps next time there would be no need for anyone else to get cursed. She held her breath as she felt Mavis come to her decision.

 _I can do one better than that_.

* * *

She put the her palm and the ball of her first together in front of her, hazel eyes snapped open as she pushed the magic stored in her out of her hands creating a complex magic circle that shimmered in the dull light of the training room. Sweating a little from the extension Lucy pushed more magic in to her incantation almost doubling the circle in size.

Reaching in to her connection with the endless cosmos above she let the final step of the spell take place, remembering Mavis' advice she kept her connection to the heavens as she released the spell.

"Celestial Law" She gasped allowing the magic to shoot through her.

She watched in surprise as stars showered down on the area covered by her spell, it felt like she was standing among the heavens. Smiling she caught a single star on the palm, it shone brightly for a moment before dissolving in to a cloud of sparkles.

 _That was well done_. Mavis noted.

Lucy grinned, her eyes made a sweep of the room as the stars disappeared. She frowned as she noticed a figure in the corner of the room watching her practice with serious scowl look across his face, in an attempt to avoid those heavy eyes she turned on her heel and headed to the main guild hall.

* * *

A hand grabbed her wrist, without thinking she turned with a kick – not in the mood for whoever thought she might make a good damsel in distress this time. She froze as her leg came in to contact with a good block, dark eyes pieced her soul as the older Dragneel studied her face intently. She felt colour rise in her face, though whether it was her own embarrassment of Mavis' she could not tell.

She felt light headed as he leant in, his breath warm on her face.

"So this is what the true hero of Fairy Tail looks like." He murmured.

Her cheeks reddened, this time the embarrassment was all Lucy's, she could feel the approval at his recognition from Mavis. This was too much, surely he would tell Natsu what she had done, and how would she explain that she had accidentally absorbed The First in her desperation to save the guild?

 _It was my choice!_ Mavis huffed.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" She denied pulling her arm away from him.

The ex-dark wizard grinned, his eyes shining with amusement as he stepped towards her, panicking she stepped away from him only to back in to the wall. Zeref's arms extended either side of her head to keep her against the wall, he grinned smugly.

"Allow me to remind you…" He leant in closer again, "Mavis and you joined souls after your finishing blow on Acnologia, and you now share a single body, a single fate…"

 _It's alright Lucy!_ Mavis tried to reassure her, _He won't tell anyone…_

She ignored Mavis and levelled her stare at the grinning wizard.

"Because aside from myself only Mavis has the knowledge of the spell 'Law' to create the spell I saw back in the training arena. She's there isn't she, telling you to trust me."

She felt excitement at Zeref's intimate knowledge of Mavis, sighing she pushed the swooning tactician to the back of her mind.

"Why should I trust you?"

He shrugged. "Natsu and Mavis trust me, why shouldn't you?"

"I am neither Mavis nor Natsu. My problems are none of your business!"

"Lucy," He sighed, "I…."

A high pitched squeal cut through whatever he was going to say, Lucy froze she knew that bone chilling sound anywhere, the demon matchmaker was on the prowl. There was no way it could get any worse… Zeref knew her secret and she was about to be subjected to hours of endless questioning about her preference in men.

"Lusheeee has a boyfriend!"

She sighed, and now the entire guild knew about whatever it as Happy assumed Zeref was doing. The inevitable wolf whistles could be heard from down the corridor along with the surprised questions, the predominant of these was "Who?" Fighting the need to find some dark corner to hide in Lucy ducked under Zeref's arms and made her way in to the main hall, she was greeted by clapping.

"He isn't my boyfriend!" She moaned.

Lucy stiffened as he stepped beside her, his eye full of curiosity at the guilds antics. She ignored Cana's appreciative cat calling and rolled her eyes.

"Do they always get this excited?" Zeref asked.

"Always!"

The small blue cat flew over their heads grinning to himself. "Natsu! Zeref luuuurves her!"

Her face blazed crimson, beside her she could feel Zeref stiffen. The salmon haired dragon slayer skipped over and looked between the two crimson mages, he grinned toothily at Lucy and she relaxed. She shot her brightest smile back at him, least she could trust Natsu to believe her.

"Zeref like Luce?" Natsu laughed.

 _Or completely misunderstand the situation_. Mavis supplied as Lucy's face fell.

"Why is that funny?" Zeref frowned, "She is a very desirable woman, smart, intelligent, full of life…"

If possible Lucy slipped further in to depression, he was describing Mavis, of course he would only care about how his loves host was perceived. Mavis tried to cheer her up by reminding her that those words could also be used to describe any of the girls in the guild. However at Zeref's words Natsu pulled out his trademark grin, he did not know about Mavis, he genuinely thought his brother liked her, Lucy.

"Zeref luuuurves Lucy!" He declared grandly to the guild, Lucy pouted as he turned is award winning smile to her. "As Luce's partner I wish you luck with those kicks."

"Lushee needs help losing weight." Happy supplied in a badly thought-out attempt at matchmaking.

Normally Lucy would knock the small blue cat out of the air for such a comment, but today she could not find the energy to react to his statement. Sighing heavily at the pair's antics she left Zeref to them and went to find herself a nice quiet spot ideally as far away from the guild as possible.

"I think Lucy has a nice figure…." Followed her out of the repaired doors.

* * *

 **AN: Picture for the story is up! :) Just a quick sketch really, I plan on drawing a full version!**

 **Next few chapters may take a while to flesh up, so please bear with me!**


	9. Chapter 9: Escape

Breathing the night air deeply she rested her head against the large trunk of the tree in the center of Magnolia Park. Lately she seemed to find her way here whenever she had needed to think, something about the situation in which she had found herself in made her seek out the relative solitude offered by the park. Somehow despite everything it had survived the worst of the damage. A lasting legacy of some of the guilds darker moments, if she had cared to look up she would have seen the holes from where Shadow Gear had been pinned by Gajeel during the Phantom Lord attack.

The city was quiet now, it was too dark to continue the rebuilding efforts, no doubt many had meandered their way to the nearest bar or the guildhall. She allowed herself to sink down the trunk in to the long grass and watched the stars appear above her, she smiled as Regulus appeared sluggishly, probability due its constellations owner spending the last few nights challenging Cana at the bar. Feeling Loke's key warm in protest, she grinned. She imagined him appearing before her to grovel and show off his 'knightly' behavior while fighting off a hangover.

 _You wouldn't be the first he's done that to!_ Mavis offered.

"I'm not surprised." Lucy replied dryly.

 _He has amazing tenacity when women are involved._

"Playboy." She murmured.

"I hope you aren't talking about me." A smooth voice interjected.

She raised herself on her elbow to find dark eyes surveying her, he stood casually in front of her an easy grin on his face. "Next time you have a dark guild to deal with just hint to Erza that they threatened your virtue, I bet they'll never trouble anyone again after _THAT_ experience."

She frowned up at him. "Why are you here?"

He dropped down next to her making himself comfortable on the grass. "I told you at the cathedral, to see my brother."

"No, why are you here in this park, now?"

He shrugged. "Looking for you, I obviously did something to upset you."

"Maybe its Mavis you upset!" She snapped.

He levelled his gaze at her. "Mavis wouldn't be so petty!"

She jumped up. "I don't know what gave you the idea that women enjoy being pinned to walls but I don't!" She turned away in frustration, never noticing his reaction to her words. "You came her for Natsu and Mavis, I'm sorry you can't see her I really am." Here she paused. "But that doesn't mean…."

She turned to face him with eyes full of fire fully prepared to distance herself from this man, she needed to push him away until he could have his Fairy back. She froze as she noticed his hand raised towards her, the colour rose in her cheeks as he reached out as if to cup her cheek. She could feel herself anticipate his touch, her body leaned forward despite herself as if to meet his hand part way. She felt like she had fallen in to one of her favorite novels, the quarrel where the lovers inadvertently reveal their feelings for each other before kissing… She shook herself and realising her position she pulled away desperately. She could not afford to be so close to him, he was Mavis' love and she was keeping the Fairy Tactician from him, guilt ran through her and she retreated further in to herself.

She briefly saw the hurt enter his eyes before he turned away. "I'm sorry. You have all been so welcoming that I forget myself, I let myself get wrapped up and thought you might want my concern," He sighed. "I thought that perhaps…"

Lucy smiled sadly, it had never been her intent to hurt him, and she gently rested her hand on his shoulder. "You are a good man, do not doubt yourself."

He turned to face her his eyes searching her face for any sign of insincerity. "Then why…"

Valiantly she reigned in the blush that was rising to her cheeks once more. "I was lost in my thoughts, you surprised me."

 _Liar!_ Mavis snorted.

 _Do you want me to tell him you love him? While we are stuck like this, while you cannot be together, do you want him to long for something he cannot have. Something I destroyed for you!_ Lucy snapped back.

 _Lucy…._

 _I know you were waiting for him, that's what the black counter represented._

 _I…._

Lucy sighed heavily and looked at her companion. "I am sorry."

Zeref tilted his head slightly to the side and tapped his forehead as if in question.

"For everything." She hung her head slightly in apology.

* * *

Darkness greeted her as she unlocked her apartment, sighing heavily Lucy turned on the lights and surveyed her empty kitchen. Like clockwork she locked her front door and methodically checked each room for any signs of life. Not finding any guild members snoozing in the tub or perusing through her underwear she let herself collapse on her couch. An empty flat should not have surprised her, since Zeref had arrive Natsu had spent every available moment trying to bond with his older brother, there had been no more raids on the fridge or reports of dark figures entering through her window, even Erza and Gray had been strangely well behaved recently.

She would have welcomed the distraction tonight, even if it may have cost a handful of jewels. Sighing again stood to go to bed, an envelope on her desk caught her attention. Turning it over her eyes caught the small lightning bolt drawn in the corner, the only mark betraying the sender. Curious she opened the letter and began to read.

"Lucy, Bixlow told me about your cohabitation problem." She snorted at the phrase. _Trust Laxus to make something this messed up so simple_. "It seems we can't leave you for a few minutes without you getting yourself mixed up in something. I know you probably blame yourself for this, but remember you were both willing to die protecting the guild, it doesn't seem like it now but this is a huge benefit. You are both well and isn't that something to be glad for?

The mission is going well, I hope to be back much sooner than expected."

Lucy folded the letter carefully and tucked it in to her desk draw with the letters to her mother before reaching for her rucksack. Moving as quickly as possible she began to pack for a week.

 _You will achieve nothing by running from him_. Mavis accused.

"This is for your sake!" She almost pleaded, her hand on her door handle.

* * *

 **Apologies for the late posting. Hope you enjoyed.**


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